Knowledge and control of fishing line tension is an important aspect of sophisticated rod and reel fishing. Line tension is typically controlled by an adjustable drag mechanism built into a reel, or applied directly to the line by finger force as is common in fly fishing. It is desirable to maintain the tension as high as possible without line breakage. Twenty five percent (25%) of rated breaking tension is a commonly selected tension setting.
An angler without an accurate and running measurement and indication of the existing line tension can only respond by “feel”. He can apply manual pressure on the line or adjust the drag from the reel. In any event it is a guess.
What is worse, the actual drag varies almost continuously because of factors the angler cannot control. Among these is the temperature, the wetness of the reel, and the amount of line expended from the reel. A drag setting which was accurate a minute or two ago may be completely wrong under newly-generated conditions. As a result, good fish are often lost due to line breakage (too tight a setting), or too loose a setting.
It is an object of this invention to provide the angler with an accurate, real time indication of fishing line tension which information the angler can use to adjust the drag on the line to an appropriate value both while awaiting a strike, and throughout a continuing effort to land a fish.
It is an optional object of this invention to selectively provide such information depending on the direction of pull of the line at the tip of the rod, without regard to the physical parameters of the rod itself.